Unexpected Development
by Clara Barton
Summary: After a one night stand on Halloween, Duo tries to forget about his unforgettable neighbors. Continuation of the Unexpected arc.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Not an update on current WIPs but Weeping Wednesday got really sad and I didn't feel up to facing _Sideshow_ and _Before Now_ after all the sad.

A/N #2: Continuing in the _Unexpected_ arc.

A/N:#3 Just go with the idea of doorbells inside an apartment building. I know it's weird. But they… they have an eccentric landlord, okay?

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter One

Duo loved his job. He loved to travel, he loved the money, he loved the fact that he only spent a few days - at most a few weeks - in one place and then he was off again. For the most part he even loved the people he worked with. Models were… interesting, they were people, the same as anyone else, but their unique position of being objects as well as individuals led to some very interesting personality developments. Duo wouldn't go so far as to say he loved all models - but he appreciated them and he liked most of them.

But more than his job, Duo loved his bed. Loved it with the kind of commitment that had him dropping his bags at the doorway to his room and flinging himself onto it, arms outstretched, fingers clutching the sheets, nose breathing deeply into the feather pillow.

He loved his bad so damn much. Especially after spending more than a day flying from Bangkok back to New York City. The flight had had one stop - in Seoul - and Duo had treasured those precious three hours to of stretching his legs because he knew, from experience, that the fourteen hour flight from Seoul to New York was going to be brutal.

And it was. He needed to start flying first class on these long, half-way across the world flights, because even though Korean Air had more leg room than most, it was still cramped, still meant he was unable to sleep for long. He had also had the dire misfortune of being seated next to a couple returning from their honeymoon. He had no idea how he had been unlucky enough to be seated beside them on both legs of the flight - but he had been. What had started as grumpy bickering at the gate in Bangkok had turned to full blown passive-aggressive promises to call parents and lawyers by the time the plane started its approach to Seoul and by the time the plane finally, _finally_ was wheels down at JFK the couple were teary-eyed and tense and had drudged up seemingly ever mistake either of them had made in their five year relationship.

Duo practically hurdled the seats when they were given the all clear in his effort to escape them. But of course, as he stood for forty five minutes waiting for his luggage, they showed up, both openly crying now, and even when he tried to move away, to the opposite side of the carousel, he could see them and hear them.

But now he was home, now he was in bed, his bed, the love of his life, and none of it mattered anymore because he was going to sleep for the next twelve hours or three days - he hadn't decided which yet - and nothing would stop him.

Without bothering to get up, he shimmied out of his jeans and pulled off his sweater. He had forgotten, after only two weeks in Bangkok, that it was mid November in New York and he had only had the warmth of the light sweater he had worn on the flight and as a result he had spent the entire cab ride home shivering.

He was grateful that Hilde kept the apartment warm - despite their agreed upon thermostat setting of sixty-five in winter, the apartment was clearly somewhere above seventy - and he burrowed under the comforter in just his underwear and closed his eyes.

-o-

The doorbell was ringing.

It sounded as if someone was just holding their hand over the buzzer without letting up, and Duo let it go on for five minutes, tried to will his body to ignore it, to ignore everything but the perfect mattress under his exhausted body but -

It didn't stop.

He opened his eyes and looked over at his nightstand, at the clock that said it was six-forty five in the morning.

He groaned.

It had been four thirty when he stumbled into the apartment. Either he had been asleep for two hours or twenty six hours. It felt like two.

The doorbell was still ringing.

Duo more or less fell out of his bed, only just catching himself, and walked to the front door.

He looked through the peep hole.

Trowa Barton stood on the other side holding a foil covered plate in one hand and a silver kettle in the other, his elbow wedged against the doorbell. He looked well-rested and freshly shaved. It was the first time Duo had seen him since Halloween night, and Duo looked over him hungrily. Trowa was wearing jeans that clung to his long, lean legs and a green cable knit sweater that looked warm and cozy and really shouldn't look that sexy. Hell. Duo was willing to bet Trowa made anything look sexy.

He realized that Trowa was still ringing the doorbell.

Duo opened the door.

Trowa smirked and then looked over Duo's lack of attire, his exhausted face and messy braid and raised an eyebrow.

"Morning," Trowa said, his voice cautious.

"A very early morning," Duo growled.

Trowa frowned.

"Hilde forgot to tell you."

"Huh?"

"She said she would tell you - she said I could come over and hijack your television today if I bribed you with pancakes and hot chocolate."

Duo frowned.

"No, she didn't mention-"

He looked over his shoulder, at the chalkboard in the entrance hallway where they left messages for each other. Hilde was out of town for the next few days, visiting her pregnant sister, and Duo hadn't spoken to her in four days.

_Bossy sexy fuck toy is coming over to watch Good Morning America on Friday. You're welcome._

Duo flushed.

Shit.

"Ah… give me one second?" He stepped away from the door and tried to wipe the chalkboard clean using only his hand.

"You call me the bossy sexy fuck toy?"

Trowa had stepped into the apartment and was looking at Duo in amusement.

"Um."

There was no easy way to get out of this.

Of course he called Trowa the bossy sexy fuck toy - though, to be fair, that had been Hilde's label when Duo told her about the events of Halloween night - but he couldn't just acknowledge that.

"What do you call Heero?"

Trowa sounded far more amused than irritated.

"Um."

Duo felt himself blush and he felt like an idiot. He was twenty seven. Twenty seven year old men did not blush.

Trowa looked even more amused.

"Pretty cock fuck toy," Duo admitted.

Trowa's lips twitched but then he nodded.

"Heero _does_ have a pretty cock," he agreed.

Duo leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Please tell me this is a dream or an exhaustion induced hallucination."

"I don't know, do your dreams normally feature bossy sexy fuck toy bringing over pancakes and hot chocolate?"

Duo sniffed the air. He could smell both and he felt his mouth water.

"No. Usually my dreams about bossy sexy fuck toy have nothing to do with food."

They stared at each other for a long moment and if Duo hadn't been exhausted, if he hadn't last showered three days ago, he might have tried to keep flirting. But as it was -

He lifted his hand to cover a jaw popping yawn.

"Why do you want to watch Good Morning America?" Duo asked after he had finished.

"Heero's on it this morning."

"Oh. Oh - that's cool." Duo frowned and thought back to that night two weeks ago, to Trowa and Heero's apartment. "You don't have a television?"

"We do, but no cable."

"Oh - why didn't you just go down to the studio with him?"

Trowa gave him a look.

"Because he hates to give interviews and he's convinced he's going to embarrass himself and he doesn't want me to witness it."

"So you're determined to watch."

"I don't want to see him embarrass himself. But I'm a fan of his. I want to watch him live on national television." Trowa hesitated. "Hilde said it wouldn't be a problem. She said you would get back in town last night and -"

"This morning. Two hours ago."

Trowa winced.

"I'm sorry."

Duo waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it. Uh… I guess come in. Television is that way… kitchen's over there if you wanted to eat your pancakes."

"You're not going to join me?" Trowa sounded disappointed and a little hurt.

"I -" Duo stumbled on his excuses. He hadn't slept in days. He had survived the flight from hell. He wasn't a morning person even when he had slept. He didn't like Good Morning America.

But Trowa's green eyes more or less made his mind go blank.

"Just let me put on some pants," he said instead.

Trowa smirked and looked over Duo's naked chest and further down, eyes lingering on the front of his boxer briefs.

"If you insist."

"It's cold," Duo muttered, stupidly pleased that Trowa was ogling him.

When he came back to the living room he was wearing sweatpants and a black, long sleeved t-shirt. He found that Trowa had been busy.

The coffee table was laid out with pancakes, butter, syrup that Duo didn't even know they had, plates, silverware and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. It looked like heaven.

Trowa was surfing through the television, trying to find the right channel, and when he found the show he sat down on the couch beside Duo.

"This looks amazing."

"Hilde told me you had a weakness for pancakes and hot chocolate."

Duo nodded and then sighed when he took a bite of the pancakes.

"Oh my god they're lavender. You _made_ lavender pancakes?"

Trowa smirked.

"Hilde said you'd had them once six years ago and hadn't shut up about them since."

Duo picked up his plate and sniffed it, inhaling deeply.

"Holy fuck, I love you. Seriously. I don't care what kind of long term committed relationship you have to Heero. Leave him for me. Today. Please. Spend the rest of your life making these for me and I swear I will do my best to make you happy."

"Tempting offer," Trowa laughed.

They watched the opening segment of the show and listened as the guests were listed.

"Damn. Sounds like he won't be on for a while," Trowa sighed when Heero's name was mentioned last as the 'talented young author with a new book coming out next week.'

"I didn't realize he had a new book," Duo said, feeling silly.

"_Finding North_," Trowa said. "We'll see if anyone wants to turn it into a hetero-love story movie." He sounded a little bitter, and Duo supposed that the negotiations for film rights to Heero's other book, _Out at Home_, weren't going so well.

"_Finding North?"_ Duo thought about the compass tattoos both Trowa and Heero had. He wondered if he was related to that.

"It's… a coming of age story about a young writer falling in love with an artist and coming out," Trowa sighed and Duo couldn't tell if he was frustrated or not. "It's good. Better than _Out at Home_ - and that was a great book."

"It sounds…"

"Vaguely autobiographical?" Trowa supplied and he shrugged. "It is. Heavily fictionalized and with a lot better dialogue than Heero and I ever managed."

"So you're telling me that if I read it I'll get to learn about how you guys met."

"Yeah. Or you could just ask and get the real version."

Duo finished up his pancakes and hot chocolate and settled back on the couch beside Trowa. Neither of them were watching the show.

"So. How did you two meet?"

Trowa rolled his eyes.

"He was a model in my advanced life drawing class."

"And you fell in love with his pretty cock."

"No. I fell in love with his spine. The base of it, specifically."

Duo couldn't help but remember that that was where Heero's compass tattoo was located.

"So. You saw the base of his spine and it was love at first sight."

Trowa gave him a look.

"I asked him to model for me. I was doing a series and I just couldn't get the back right and he was perfect. We spent a few weeks together and… yeah. We fell in love."

"And you're okay with people reading about it?"

Trowa shrugged.

"Heero changed a lot and it's a good story. We talked about it. It's… yeah. I'm okay with people reading about it."

Duo felt a small surge of envy for the fact that Heero and Trowa had a love story so good it was worth publishing. Whereas the only love story Duo was involved in was with his bed. His bed.

Now that he was warm and full of pancakes and hot chocolate Duo felt the lure of sleep more strongly than ever.

Trowa noticed his eyes start to droop.

"Going to take a nap?"

"Hm. Yeah. Wake me when he's on." Duo curled into one corner of the couch.

Trowa chuckled and draped the blanket over him.

"Thanks," Duo yawned and then closed his eyes.

-o-

When he woke up again, Trowa was saying his name softly and Duo blinked awake slowly.

He had shifted, had somehow moved from his corner of the couch and was now laying against Trowa's side, the other man's right arm draped around his shoulders.

Duo tensed for a moment.

"I guess I moved."

"Yeah." Trowa tapped his fingers on Duo's shoulder. "Don't worry about it - Heero's on."

Duo focused on the television and tried very hard not to think about how good Trowa smelled.

Heero looked handsome and deeply uncomfortable. He was wearing dark gray trousers, a blue v-neck shirt and a black cardigan. He looked casual and handsome and Duo looked up to see Trowa smiling fondly at the television.

"Heero, you've made something of a name for yourself writing gay love stories."

It didn't sound like much of a question, and the look on Heero's face was far from neutral.

"Jesus. This is going to be a disaster," Trowa muttered.

"Yes," Heero said after a lengthy pause.

"And… why is it that you write in that genre?"

Heero stared at the woman who had asked the question and for a moment it looked as though he was going to say something scathing. Duo felt Trowa tense against him.

"It's an underrepresented genre, at least in mainstream fiction, and it's one that I feel passionate about. As a gay man it's easy enough to find gay erotica, but more challenging to find good, meaningful fiction where the romance isn't just a cut scene between creative sex."

Heero's answer seemed to take the interviewer aback.

Duo laughed.

"Damn. That was good."

"Do you consider yourself a role model for young gay men?"

Heero frowned and he shrugged.

"Not particularly. I write what I write because I want to. There's not much about me that someone can model themselves after - the only reason I'm dressed this well is because my fiance picked out my clothes for me last night."

That garnered a laugh from the interviewer and a chuckle from Trowa.

Fiance.

The word did something strange to Duo.

He sat up and moved away from Trowa and back to his corner of the couch.

Trowa glanced at him, but the interviewer was talking to Heero again.

"And what does your fiance think about your fame?"

"He's happy for me, obviously," Heero said, still sounding a bit irritated at the inane questions.

"And what are your Thanksgiving plans?"

Heero shrugged.

"We'll spend the holiday with friends and family and make sure everyone buys copies of my book."

Another laugh from the interviewer.

"And this book, _Finding North. _It's about a young writer coming to terms with his sexuality. How autobiographical is this book?"

Heero shrugged.

"Not very. I think most writers use our craft to… put some piece of ourselves out there into the world, and I certainly have things in common with Daniel, the protagonist. But _Finding North_ is his story, not mine."

"What can we expect from you next, Heero?"

"I suppose that depends entirely on how well this book sells," Heero said with a slight smirk. "But I'm working on a few projects at the moment. We'll see what comes of them."

"Well, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us this morning. Heero Yuy, author of _Out at Home._ His new book, _Finding North_, comes out next week."

They shook hands and then the show cut away to a commercial break.

Trowa arched an eyebrow at Duo.

"Something upset you."

"What? No. No. Sorry. Just… tired. He did well." Duo nodded at the television, desperate to not talk about the fact that Heero and Trowa's engagement felt like a sucker punch.

And why?

Why did it bother him so much?

It had been one night, two weeks ago. And maybe Duo had spent a good chunk of time in the two weeks since remembering that night, thinking about each of them, wishing it could happen again, wishing he could somehow wedge himself into their lives.

After a few rounds of fantastic sex that had left them all tired and Duo suspected sore, Trowa had made coffee and omelets for them, Heero had loaned Duo sweatpants so that he didn't have to climb back into his bodysuit, and the three of them had sat in their kitchen talking for hours. It had been the best night Duo had ever spent with anyone, not even counting the amazing sex, and he felt a lonely ache whenever he thought back to it.

"Yeah, I'll have to reward him for not biting her head off."

Duo offered a weak smile when Trowa smirked at him.

Trowa looked him over, seemingly trying to figure out what was wrong.

"You look exhausted. I'll let you finally get some decent sleep."

"Oh. Ah - thanks."

Duo stood up and helped Trowa clear away the food, packing everything into the dishwasher so he could deal with it later.

"I appreciate you letting me watch him," Trowa said as he lingered at the door.

"No problem. I appreciate the bribes. And it was good to see him - to know he's getting attention."

Trowa nodded.

"He's worked hard for it."

"Not to mention he's incredibly talented."

"That too," Trowa agreed.

He seemed on the verge of saying something but then he shook his head.

"Thanks again."

He started to walk away and Duo started to close the door.

"Wait."

Trowa came back.

"Yeah?"

"It was the fiance thing, wasn't it? It bothered you when he said that."

Duo thought about lying or deflecting, but he clearly took too long to decide what to say.

Trowa nodded.

"I thought so."

"Look, it's - I'm really happy for you two. You seem like a great couple and I hope you're very, very happy together and -"

"Heero hates the term partner," Trowa interrupted Duo.

"What?"

"Heero hates the term partner. He thinks it sounds like we're in business together and he doesn't like to say it. I think boyfriend sounds like we're in high school. And lover isn't PC enough for him to say in interviews so we decided on fiance."

"Oh. So… you two aren't getting married?"

Trowa shrugged.

"We've been together for seven years. He's the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and he feels the same way about me but we're not that crazy about the idea of marriage."

Duo arched an eyebrow.

"Our parents are divorced. His mother has been remarried three times after Heero's father died. Marriage isn't… something we believe in all that much."

"And one night stands with your neighbor? Those are something you believe in?"

Duo shouldn't have asked. Should have kept his mouth shut and let his bruised heart hold out hope that not believing in marriage meant a chance to spend more time with Heero and Trowa. He shouldn't have said those words out loud, however.

"I can't really speak for pretty cock fuck toy," Trowa said, his voice somehow sounding amused and irritated at the same time, "but as I told you that night, we aren't in the habit of asking people to join us."

Duo nodded. He felt like an ass.

"Yeah. No. You said that. I - I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore."

He needed sleep. He needed sleep and he needed a night of amazing sex and even more amazing conversation so that he could forget about Heero and Trowa.

"I'm sorry," Trowa said.

"For what?" Duo asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure, but I feel like I should be sorry for something."

Duo had to laugh at Trowa's honesty.

"Oh. Damn. Uh, well, thanks for that. I… I really need to get some sleep. It was good to see you again," he added when Trowa nodded and started to walk away again.

Trowa turned and smiled at him, a soft, genuine expression that made his eyes light up.

"It was good to see you too," Trowa said.

Duo closed the door and he leaned back against it.

Fuck.

He was fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Language, angst, sex

Pairings: 1x2x3, 1x3

_Unexpected Development_

Chapter Two

"Is it supposed to smell like that?"

Hilde turned to Duo with an alarmed expression.

"Like what?"

"Like burning?"

Her face turned completely white and she shoved Duo out of the way and yanked open the oven door.

"It doesn't smell like burning," she insisted, sounding more than a little desperate.

Duo tried to keep a straight face when she turned back to him but failed.

Her eyes narrowed at his smirk and she slammed the oven door closed.

"_You -"_

"It smells great. Perfect," he assured her and held his hands up in surrender.

But she continued to advance, hands on her slim hips, looking adorable and terrifying in the floral apron she had put on over her favorite red cocktail dress.

"I'm going to kill you," she muttered.

Duo rolled his eyes.

"From boredom. Please. Let me do _something_."

While he had not risen at two in the morning like Hilde had to start roasting the turkey, he had been up with her for the last three hours and he had been relegated to the sidelines of the kitchen as she prepared everything singlehandedly.

"Duo. You yourself admitted that you don't like to cook or know how to cook."

"Well, no, but -"

"But I want this to be perfect. And I love you, Duo. I do. But I don't want to serve burned mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Again."

Duo winced at the reminder of last year, when she had allowed him to be in charge of what she deemed to be the safest possible dish.

"You know he's already head over heels for you," Duo had to say.

Hilde gave him a look.

"What? He is! You could probably just have fried chicken and mac and Quatre would think it's the perfect Thanksgiving meal."

"This isn't just about _him_. His sister is coming over."

"What?"

Hilde sighed and started dicing carrots with alarming speed.

"When Quatre called to cancel on his family his sister Iria was worried or something - I don't know - and insisted she would spend the day with him if he was sick or - or whatever so he invited her."

"Uh huh." Duo surveyed the amount of food Hilde was preparing. The last he had heard, yesterday when he got back from Florida, was that it was going to be the three of them and he had prepared himself to be an awkward third wheel by going out again and buying a few bottles of his favorite Syrah. But this - this looked like food for more than four people. Even more than four with leftovers.

"You sure it's just one sister he's bringing?"

Hilde groaned.

"Well - well he talked it up to her and made it sound like this big thing, like this thing you and I do every year that is so important to us and -"

"But it is. Every year you make great food and we watch Star Wars. Hilde - Hilde this is the single greatest day of the year, every year."

She bit her lip.

Duo covered his face with his hands.

"Jesus. Just tell me. Did you invite the whole building?"

"Not the _whole_ building."

Duo glared at her.

"Who?"

"Just… Wufei and Heero and Trowa and Trowa's sister."

Duo stared at her.

And then he realized.

"Fuck."

He grabbed his coat.

"What - where are you going?"

"I need to get more wine. I only got enough to get myself drunk."

It wasn't until he was on the street, walking on the empty sidewalk, that it really hit him.

_Heero and Trowa and Trowa's sister_.

Duo hadn't seen or spoken to either Heero or Trowa since Heero's interview, since the morning he made an ass of himself by throwing himself at Trowa and practically begging to be invited back into their bed.

And now they were coming over for Thanksgiving. For hours of what Duo strongly suspected would _not _be watching Star Wars with Hilde while eating her delicious food.

They were probably going to sit at a table.

Everyone together. And he would have to look at Heero and Trowa, would have to look at them look at each other, and he would have to get incredibly drunk because he didn't like crowds to begin with, felt like an idiot around Wufei at all times to begin with, and couldn't help but look at Heero and Trowa and want to confess his undying love to begin with.

He needed to numb himself, needed to probably start drinking now, and it was a good thing that there was a bar beside his favorite liquor store.

-o-

When he got back to the apartment, carrying as much wine as he physically could, pleasantly buzzed off of two Old Fashions at the bar, Duo immediately felt like an asshole.

Hilde wasn't alone.

Quatre and a blonde woman who was clearly his sister Iria, were there as well.

Iria was seated at the kitchen counter, a glass of Duo's favorite Syrah in front of her, and Quatre was the one to open the door when Duo fumbled around with the keys for too long.

Duo set down the wine by the refrigerator, trying to artistically cram it into the small wine rack on the floor and then giving up and stacking an additional four bottles on the counter.

He sent Hilde an apologetic look, but she just regarded him with wide, pleading eyes.

Right.

Time to turn on the Maxwell charm.

It was a very, very good thing he had stopped to have a few drinks.

He smiled widely at Quatre and Iria.

"Quatre! Good to see you again! And this must be your sister, Iria?"

She gave him a cool smile.

"And you must be Hilde's extremely attractive male roommate - the man with such good taste in wine." She saluted him with her glass.

"Well, Hilde gets all of the credit for that. Before we met my palette was awful."

Iria arched an eyebrow.

"And how did you two meet? Quatre tells me you two have been living together for years."

Duo could see Hilde looking at him with desperation and he wondered _why_ -

Oh. Extremely attractive male roommate.

Duo laughed.

"Well, we initially met at a party when we were freshmen at BU where she actually set me up with this really hot soccer player - what was his name, Hil?"

"Matt."

"Matt - Matt Yesnik. Anyway, Hilde set me up with him and we've been friends ever since."

"You're gay." Iria stared at him.

Duo arched an eyebrow and looked between Quatre and Iria. Quatre looked amused, looked like he was laughing silently at his sister and enjoying the hell out of himself.

"Yes. I'm gay."

"Oh. Well." Her smiled warmed several degrees and she looked over the dishes Hilde was finishing up in the kitchen. "It looks absolutely delicious, Hilde."

"Thank you," Hilde said and mustered a genuine smile. She turned to Quatre and Duo. "Boys, why don't you set the table? I think everyone else will be arriving soon."

"I'm sorry," Quatre whispered to Duo as they set the table, as Duo reflected upon the fact that this was one of the few times the long, oak dining table would be filled with people and not his or Hilde's crap. "I know you two usually do your own thing on Thanksgiving and I've made a mess of it."

Duo shrugged.

"No worries. You haven't made a mess of anything. And now that your sister doesn't think Hilde's sleeping with me I'm sure everything will go great."

Quatre chuckled.

"I tried to tell her that there was nothing going on with you two, but I didn't know… I didn't know if you were out or if you wanted strangers to know about your or…"

"I appreciate your concern," Duo said, touched, "but I'm definitely out. My days of hiding who I am ended when I was in high school."

Quatre offered him a wan smile and it looked like he wanted to say something, but the doorbell rang.

Duo drew a deep breath and steeled himself - no matter who was on the other side of the door, he probably wasn't going to be ready to say hello to them.

It turned out to be Wufei, who almost smiled at Duo but instead his face settled into a kind of grimace and he thrust a bottle of wine into Duo's hands.

"Hilde mentioned you liked this wine," he said, his voice almost angry.

Duo looked at the label. It was his favorite Syrah. Well. It would certainly have good company with the other eight bottles in the kitchen. He had forced himself to buy a few bottles of white, of some Pinot Grigio that had looked inoffensive, so that he didn't come home with _only_ a dozen bottles of Syrah.

"Thank you," Duo said, a little taken aback. Then again, guests were supposed to bring something over - aside from snarky attitudes.

"I'm worried Brooklyn is going to run out of the 2010 Donkey & Goat," he said to Hilde as he set the bottle in the kitchen with the others.

She snorted.

"How was I supposed to know you were going to stock for Prohibition?" She muttered, but she seemed more at ease, happier, more herself now that Iria wasn't glaring daggers at her.

"Can I get you anything?" Duo asked Wufei after an elbow prod from Hilde.

"I suppose I can join…" Wufei looked at Iria.

"Oh, this is my sister, Iria," Quatre said. "Iria, this is Wufei, he lives on our floor as well."

Duo poured a glass of wine for Wufei and passed it over. Wufei nodded in thanks to him and he seemed… Duo couldn't put his finger on it. But there was something different about him today.

He looked him over.

He was dressed the same as always - dark trousers, button up shirt under a cardigan. The model of a lit professor.

Wufei caught Duo staring at him at the exact moment that Duo realized what was different about him.

Wufei arched an eyebrow and Duo flushed.

"I - sorry. I've never seen you with your hair down."

Wufei tensed, his spine so straight Duo wondered if it was painful, and his dark eyes narrowed, as though daring Duo to comment on the choice.

"It's nice," Duo murmured, feeling like an idiot, like an asshole - like he always did whenever he tried to talk to Wufei.

Wufei's eyes remained narrowed, and he frowned slightly.

When the doorbell rang again, Duo practically sprinted for it.

He paused at the door and drew in a deep breath and then forced a smile onto his face as he reached for the knob.

Duo wasn't in the least surprised by the way his heart started to race when he saw Heero and Trowa, when he looked them over and catalogued what they were wearing, the way they stood close to each other, the slight smirk on Heero's face, the tilted left corner of Trowa's mouth and his intense green eyes, only one really visible under the fall of his auburn hair.

And then he realized he was staring, realized they were staring right back at him, but it didn't really matter, did it? When Heero's eyes were so intense, so shamelessly looking him over and Trowa's tilted lips were curving into a full smile and fuck.

He was fucked.

"Ahem."

All three of them started, looked away guiltily and shifted on their feet.

A tall, auburn haired women stood behind Trowa and arched an eyebrow.

"My sister, Catharine," Trowa said and stepped aside, allowing Catharine to step forward and shake Duo's hand.

"Hi," Duo said, stupidly.

"Hi," Catharine responded, smiling. She offered him a bottle of Syrah. "My brother said this was a favorite of yours?"

Duo choked on a laugh but he nodded.

"Yes, yes thanks."

Heero and Trowa gave him curious looks, but Duo stood aside and gestured for them to enter.

"Please come in, I think everything is almost ready."

"I also made this," Trowa said, lingering a moment after Heero and Catharine went inside. He held aloft a golden crusted pie. "Hilde mentioned she could use a hand with dessert."

"It looks great," Duo said.

Trowa smirked.

"It's blueberry lavender."

Duo stared at him. More lavender.

"Ah - do I refrigerate it or…?" Duo took it from Trowa and tried not to think about the way their fingers touched as Trowa handed over the plate.

"It doesn't need to be refrigerated," Trowa assured him.

Duo forced himself to turn away and go back to the kitchen, to put the pie and the wine down and remind himself that Trowa and Heero were...not the marrying kind but didn't make a habit of inviting anyone into their bed, or likely their kitchen for midnight omelets and coffee. It was one time. It was over.

-o-

Dinner went fine up until Catharine and Iria inexplicably decided to compare their brother's accomplishments, Catharine listing the awards Trowa had won in college, the galleries he had shown at; Iria following up with Quatre's role as an acting principal in the violin section of the New York Philharmonic, the music school for underprivileged children he had started last year. Both Trowa and Quatre looked embarrassed, shared miserable looks with each other, and finished off two glasses of wine each while the war went on between their sisters.

"Well," Hilde finally interrupted when both women paused for breath and to think of more ammunition, "it's really amazing we have such talent living in our building. Trowa, Quatre - Heero, of course and Wufei - teaching at Columbia."

"And Duo," Wufei added, coming to her aid. "Is a very talented photographer."

"Yes, absolutely." Hilde nodded emphatically. "In fact, he has a show opening this next weekend at Art 3."

Duo stared at her. Everyone else stared at him.

"Really?" Trowa asked.

Duo nodded slowly and tried not to feel betrayed.

It was only his second show - his first had been years ago, at a small collective just after college and he his work had been spotted by a photographer with National Geographic who had invited Duo to be his assistant for the summer and that had led to him meeting other photographers, editors - his break into fashion photography. But he hadn't had a show since, hadn't sold any of his more artistic, his more personal photography, to anyone outside of a few acquaintances.

The show at Art 3 was a big deal, was one of the most terrifying things Duo had done in a long time, and Hilde knew he was convinced no one would show, or that those who did would wonder where the sexy models were and ask why Art 3 had wasted the gallery space on a commercial photographer.

And now she was telling _everyone _about it.

"That's great, Duo!" Quatre said, a wide grin on his face, clearly relieved to no longer be the subject under discussion. "I'm actually free next weekend - I'll have to come with Hilde to see your work."

"You should all come to support him," Hilde said, and Duo had to wonder how much she had had to drink.

Heero and Trowa exchanged looks.

"We would love to see your work," Heero said, and it sounded as though he was asking permission.

Duo sighed.

"Yeah. Great. Everyone should come." He knew he sounded angry and bitter, even without the hurt expression on Heero's face. He _was_ angry and bitter. He didn't want them there - didn't want any of them there, except maybe Hilde, just so someone would know it had happened, but he didn't want or need any other witnesses to his spectacular failure.

-o-

Duo felt nothing but relief when Quatre and Iria, the last of their guests to leave, walked out of the door.

Hilde tried to help him clean, but he brushed her off - insisting that she had done all of the hard work and he needed to do something at least and she should just take a nap because she had earned it - and spent the next hour furiously cleaning plates and surfaces and trying not to think about just how humiliating it was going to be to have Heero and Trowa stand in an empty gallery and see his photographs and wonder why no one else cared.

He cleaned the pie plate, the silver platter that Trowa had brought over, last. He should go and return it, but of course, that would mean having to see them again. And three hours at the table, staring and then not staring, had been hell already.

Duo felt a rush of anger towards himself.

_Grow up_, he thought and yanked off Hilde's floral apron and picked up the plate.

He went down to their floor and knocked on the door.

It was opened a moment later by Heero.

"Duo." He looked a little uneasy, a little unsure of how to take Duo's appearance at his doorstep.

Duo sighed and held up the plate.

"Trowa brought the pie over on this." He explained.

Heero nodded and accepted it.

"Thank you."

They stared at each other, and Duo noticed that Heero had changed, was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt and he looked comfortable and sexy and Duo forced himself to step back.

"Right. Well - thanks for coming over," he said. "And thank Trowa again for the pie. It was delicious."

Heero nodded and he hesitated, starting to close the door but then stopping.

"Do you want to come in? Trowa and I were about to watch a movie and -"

Duo held up his hands.

"No, no but thanks." He couldn't do it. Couldn't subject himself to a movie with those two, with Heero in sweatpants and a t-shirt that clung to his shoulders and upper body and made Duo think about his Batman costume, about the way his abdominal muscles fluttered when Duo sucked his cock.

"Maybe some other time?" Heero suggested.

"Yeah. Some other time." Duo agreed and he walked away before he changed his mind.

He felt like banging his head against the wall, but instead he dragged himself back up to his floor, taking the stairs slowly, berating himself every step of the way.

Wufei was just leaving his apartment, leashed cat in tow.

Duo had to smirk, as he always did, at the sight.

Wufei saw him and arched an eyebrow.

"Thanks for coming over today," Duo said to him.

Wufei shrugged one shoulder but then he frowned.

"I should apologize. I… did not mean for you to become the center of attention when I mentioned your photography."

Duo stared at him.

Had Wufei just apologized? And for something that really wasn't his fault? And was he… not scowling at Duo?

"Um, don't worry about it," Duo assured him, scrambling for words. "It wasn't your fault and you didn't - it's fine," he assured him. "Really."

"If you would rather I didn't come to your show, I understand."

"No it's not…" Duo sighed. "I'm pretty sure if you do come then you're going to be one of five people there."

Wufei stared at him.

"I find that very hard to believe. But if I am, then I will be happy to be one of those five." He gestured to his cat. "I should take Nataku on her walk before she gets too anxious."

Duo nodded and watched the two go.

As he let himself back into his apartment, he couldn't help but think that this had been the weirdest Thanksgiving since the one when he came out to his parents and they kicked him out of their house.


End file.
